diff --git a/importlib_metadata/__init__.py b/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
index 6dfaad0c..9b912f8e 100644
--- a/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/importlib_metadata/__init__.py
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@
 from itertools import starmap
 from typing import Any, Iterable, List, Mapping, Match, Optional, Set, cast
 
-from zipp.compat.overlay import zipfile
-
 from . import _meta
 from ._collections import FreezableDefaultDict, Pair
 from ._compat import (
@@ -777,6 +775,9 @@ def children(self):
         return []
 
     def zip_children(self):
+        # deferred for performance (python/importlib_metadata#502)
+        from zipp.compat.overlay import zipfile
+
         zip_path = zipfile.Path(self.root)
         names = zip_path.root.namelist()
         self.joinpath = zip_path.joinpath
diff --git a/newsfragments/502.feature.rst b/newsfragments/502.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..20659bb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/502.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Deferred import of zipfile.Path
\ No newline at end of file